Means for street cleaning



Nov. 10, 1925- M. SIMS maims 'FOR STREET cmmuma Filed Jan. 6, 1920.

4 Sheets-Sheet .L

INVENTOR MirabeauSims BY mid; ms ATTORNEY Nov. 10, 1925.

M. SIMS umms FOR STREET cnmums 4 sheets-sheet 2 Filed Jan. 1920 INVENTOR Mirabeau Suns fiufk qmw ms ATTORNEY Nov-10,1925 v 1,560,612

' M. SIMS MEANS FOR STREET CLENING Jan. 6, 1920 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR Murabeau Sims BY mm m Hi5 ATTORNEY Nov. 10 1925- M. SIMS MEANS FOR STREET CLEANING 11! Jan, 6,. 9 0 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR Mirabeau 8 ms BY g I HISATTORNEY Patented Nov. 10, 1925.-

STATES] PATENT OFFICE.

mane or rnrmnnnrmn, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOB To 3'. a. nonNna, or

- BATH, PENNSYLVANIA.

MEANS FOR STREET CLEANING.

Application fled January 8, 1920. Serial Io. 849,790.

To all whom it may com-em:

Be it known that I, MmABnAU SIMS, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, State of Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful Means for Street Cleaning, 'the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in means for street cleaning, and it has for its object generally to provide an apparatus which is eflicient for street cleaning purposes and which is relatively simple as to construction and operation.

A further object of the invention isto provide a street cleaning apparatus comprise ing means attached to a vehicle for sweeping and gathering the dirt and dust upon a street or other place into ridges or windrows and positively collectin the same by pneu- -matic means and deposlting it in a tank or receptacle by such means.

A further object of the invention is to provide novel means whereby the brushes or sweepers upon the vehicle may be ma= nipulated readily and controlled.

' A still further object of the invention is to provide novel means whereby the tank or receptacle may be tilted to discharge therefrom dirt or refuse which may have been deposited therein without disturbing other parts of the structure.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will bepointed out in'the detailed description thereof which follows or will be apparent from such description.

Referring to the drawings which illustrate merely by way of example suitable means for the embodiment of .my invention Fig. 1 isa side elevation of a device embodying my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of same.

Fig. 3 is a sectional end elevation on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. i

' Fig.4 is a horizontal plan of the brushes and adjacent .parts on an enlarged scale, on

line 4-4 of Fig. 3.

Fig. 5 is a-detail elevation of the brush operating andsupporting means.

I 1 Fig. 6 is a detail of the tanktilting mechanism. r

Fig. 7 is a vertical cross-section'of the rotor or exhauster on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 8 is a horizontal section on line 88 of Fig. 7. r

of which.

Fig. 9 is a detail of the pneumatic pipe o1nt.

Fi 10 is a detail showing means for heati tfi aterial passingthrough pipe 26.

1m11ar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the several views.

To the frame portion 11, of a standard motor truck, is secured the receptacle or tank 12, by means of the (pivotal. connections 13 atv the rear end of sai frame 11. The front end of the tank 12 rests upon a support or cradle 14. The tank is held in the normal or horizontal position as shown in Fig. 1, primarily by its weight to the left of the pivot support 13, but any jolting or accidental movement of the tank is prevented by means of the link member 15, pivotally connected at one end, as at, 16, to the tank, and at the other end, as at 17, to a threaded nut 18 mounted on the screw 19. The screw 19 is journalled in bearings 20 secured to the frame 11. This screw is connected by the worm gear 21 with a hand crank 22 for manual operation. So that by turning the hand crank 22 the nut 18 is movedalong the screw 19, thereby causing the tank 12 to assume the tilted position, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1.

At the lower rear end of tank 12 is provided the port having an airtight closure 23, hinged at 24 and provided with a suitable catch 25, for normally maintaining the same in airtight closed position.

Connected to the front end of this tank is the material conveying pipe 26, which extends vertically to the upper part of the tank to a wide radius curve 27, discharging to the upper forward end of said tank. This pipe 26 has a disengageable connection with a stationary pipe section 28, which is secured to the frame 11. To the lower end-of pipe section 28 is secured a flexible pipe section 29; the lower end of section 29 is connected to and supports a nozzle section 30 which is preferably made of'bronze or similar metal and constitutes-the intake end or nozzle for material to be conveyed and delivered by 26 to tank 12. This nozzle projects to within a few inches of the ground and is preferably 7 provided at its lower intake end with a rubber buifer section 31 for the purpose of preventing shock to-the metal in case an obstruction encountered. T Mounted on the body portion 11 of the truck just in front of the tank 12 is t} a rotary blower or exhauster 32 which will be referred to hereinafter as the rotor. This rotor or exhauster is of the cycloidalor positive type and a comparatively low speed machine. This device is shown more in detail in Figs. 7 and 8. The impellers 33 having a very slight clearance with the interior walls of the casing and also between each other, namely about 10/1000 of an inch, so that each revolution of the impeller draws in and discharges a known and fixed quantity of air so that the quantity of air discharged on each revolution multiplied by the number of revolutions per minute gives the volume in cubic feet per minute. The rotor is connected with the tank 12 by the pipes 34 and 35. These pipes have a disengageable airtight connection at 36 which consist of cone and funnel shaped rubber gaskets, one tending to fit within the other so that upon suction through the pipe,-the below atmospheric pressure will tend to make said connecting elements effective in securing an airtight joint. A similar disengageable airtight connection is provided at 37 between pipe sections 26 and 28. This arrangement permits the tilting of the tank as above described and the automatic airtight connections between the pipings when the tank is brought back into normal position as shown in Fig. 1. The pipe 35 extends horizontally within tank 12 to near the rear end of the tank so that air is drawn from the tank at a, point as remote as racticable from the point of discharge 0 pipe 26 and discharge end 27. The screen 38 is provided in the top of tank 12 interposed between the dischar e end 27 of pipe 26 and the intake end of pipe 35. This screen is preferably made in undulating formation to present a greater area of effective surface.

A relief valve is connected with the rotor preferably in pipe 34 near its connection with the rotor 32. This comprises a chambered body or casing 40 having the port 41 with a seat 42 consisting of an annular knife-edge formation with which cooperates the valve member 43 having the ring 44 of Babbitt metal for engaging the knife-edge formation 42. To valve 43 is secured the spindle 45 which projects upwardly through the casing and is provided above the casing with a number of removableweights. The purpose of this relief valve is to prevent an overload on the system in the following manner. If the system is set to operate on a partial vacuum of say two inches of mercury or one pound minus pressure, then the wei hts 46 on the top of the relief valve are p aced accordingl so-that when the system is loaded beyon its predetermined pressure capacity, the valve will automatically break the vacuum, by-pass the column of air and temporarily relieve the pressure on the pipe lines, thus automatically adjusting itself tothe fluctuations of varythe motor or engine 47 through belt 48 and gears 49 and 50. The air discharging from neath the level of water contained therein-for the purpose of collecting and washing out any dust or gases that may be drawn from the tank 12.

ing loads. The impellers 33 are rotated by the rotor is delivered into the pan 39 be- I Suitably mounted beneath the truck are the cylindrical brushes 51 and 52. These brushes are journalled in bearings such as 53, mounted on brackets 54 pivoted at '56 to a part 57 rigidly connected with truck body 11. The upper end 58 of bracket 54' is connected to a chain 59 or other suitable flexible connection running over pulle 60 to a suitable actuating device such as ever 61 so that such bearing 53 may be raised and lowered as required. Each bearing of the two brushes being similarly supported; it

follows that the brushes may be lifted either at one end or both ends as desired. Upon the axis 62 of the brush is secured the sprocket wheel 63 which is connected by a sprocket chain 64 with the sprocket 65.

Sprocket 65 is connected by suitable gearing Above the brushes 51 and 52 is provided the sheet metal cover 67. v To this sheet metal cover is connected a suitable canvas curtain 69 which extends down and around the sides and ends of the brushes to within an inch or two of the surface to be operated upon. The purpose of these curtains is to n 7 prevent a scatterin of the dust and. dirt being operated upon y the brushes.

A conduit or passageway 71-is provided through which heated gases from the exhaust of the engine employed for driving the blower 32 are conducted to the material pipe 26 where it operates for heating and melting any snow which may be conveyed throng the said pipe to the receptacle or tank 12.

A port 72 is provided in connection with the tankl or receptacle 12 0; connection a specia ipe or conveyor eadmg' .to an bin in cellars or similar storage of material to be removed. 2'

Yliat I claimlis: h

. 11 street c eamng' a aratus, t e combination of a vehicle, a p on, a suction nozzle and means connecting the-same with the tank, an 'exhauster -coni nected with the tank having rotating im- P lle s adapted to and capable of m 'said in and dischargin a definite quantity of air with each I'GVOfiltiOI), and an adjustable pressure relief valve comprising a gravity actuated valve member engaging a knife ed e annular seat, adapted to yield to the pul of the exhauster and automatically operating to maintain a substantially pre determined and constant pressure in the tank.

'2. In street vcleaning ap aratus, the combination of a vehicle, a tank supported thereon, a suction nozzle and means connecting the same with the. tank, an exhauster connected with the tank, and means permitting a separation-of elements in the connecting means between nozzle and tank, when the tank is tilted, and for automatically making neumatic connection again, when the tank 1s restored to normal, comprising cone and funnel shaped members with a cooperating gasket, arranged to increase the efliciency of the joint with suction pressure in the pipe.

3. In street cleaning apparatus, the combination of a vehicle, a tank supported thereon, a suction nozzle and means connecting the same with the tank, an exhauster con nected with the tank, said exhauster comprising a rotor, an internal combustion en-" gine for driving said rotor, and means for communicating the heat from the engine exhaust to the ath of travel from-nozzle to tank, as and or the purpose described.

4. In a street cleanin apparatus, the combination of a vehicle rame, a tank pivotally connected to said frame, means for effectingp'ivotal movement of said tank, an

pending end of w ich is. provided with a hood, a nozzle supported upon the said frame and the upper end of which rojects into said hood and contacts therewith and with the lower end of the said third mentioned pipe, substantially as described.

MIRABEAU SIMS. 

